Parallel Truths
by MitternachtWuten
Summary: A varied collection of oneshots featuring the MGS cast, ranging from AUs to regular short stories. Rated T for mild language.
1. 1: Noire PI AU

**A/N: For those of you who followed The Pain Lives On, this is the other little surprise I mentioned. Also yes, I know the cover image is weird and kinda funny but hey had to put something in there.**

 **So here it is. Hope you guys enjoy it. Read and review as always.**

 **~CJ**

 **EDIT: I have replaced the silly image with a more suitable one now. Thank God for GIMP!**

* * *

Alone sat a man who stared out his open window from his nearby desk, closing his eyes as he listened to the soft pitter-patter of the rain while smoking his cigar. The mixture of the cool mist and the cigar smoke created this odd scent that was neither good nor bad. It was as if it was a dream. Then his cigar became unlit due to the rain once a few stray droplets flew in from a burst of wind.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Damn it…", he muttered as he took the cigar and threw it into his trash bin. Reaching behind him, he grabbed a dangling metal chain and pulled it, turning on a dim lamp as he listened to the bustling streets of New York.

It was then that he heard a knocking on his door. He sighed. It always seemed that whenever he wanted to relax on a Friday everybody always wanted to ruin it for him. "Come in. Door's unlocked.", he called out.

A loud, drawn creak and the clacks of heels signaled the entrance of the person. He hoped to God it wasn't Miller. Last thing he needed was another job. Judging from the sound, it was a pair of high heels. And last time he checked, Kaz didn't wear that stuff. Swiveling around on his large leather desk chair, he noticed a woman standing in front of him.

And what a sight she was! She had brunette hair that flowed down and rested on her shoulders, serene and crystal-clear gray eyes. Her cheeks had the faint hue of natural makeup and her lips were a darkened rosy red, all curled into a tight, tucked position as she closed her umbrella and checked her fur coat for any signs of wetness.

She looked up to meet the gaze of the man and gasped in shock at the sight of his face. Though his structure was not damaged in any sort, he had pieces of shrapnel stuck in his head, and stiches all over. His hair, though slightly messy from wearing a hat, was slicked back in a handsome manner.

"My god…", she remarked at him, simply marveling at his presence for a while. The staring eventually annoyed the man.

His eyes squinted in annoyance and he leaned over on the desk, pushing the typewriter a little forward to make room. "What're you here for miss? If you're only here to stare at me like I'm some sort of freak circus act, then get the hell out."

She shook her head quickly. "No, no! I'm sorry! I just…never knew…"

He clicked his tongue. Judging from the accent, she was Dutch. Her face was familiar to him…and not to mention that voice. But with the giant piece of metal stuck in his brain, it was hard to remember, even with therapy. "Never knew what, lady?"

"Never knew…that you…forget it.", her hand covered her mouth and then waved off as she sighed and slowly stepped over to the dual chairs in front of the desk.

"Wait.", interrupting her path, he held up a hand and got up from his seat, moving over around the large hunk of wood to her. Grabbing her fur coat and sliding it off gently, he stepped over and put it on the hanger that stood near the door. It was here that the woman noticed that he was also an amputee. Gone was the left arm from the bicep down, this being made apparent by the mass at the top of his suit sleeve and the slimmer, dangling part of the same sleeve.

She could almost feel the tears well up in her eyes. Was this what happened to him?

He then turned around and took her hand softly, holding it by her fingers, guiding her to the chair and pulling it out for her. She smiled and sat down, soon feeling the chair move forward as the man pushed it. For a person with only one arm, he sure was strong. "Thank you.", she folded her legs and spoke to him.

"You're welcome. Anything else you need?", he asked as he plopped down on his seat.

"No, but thanks for being such a gentleman.", her lips tugged at both ends into the sweetest smile the man had ever seen for a long while.

"Anytime, miss.", he returned her gaze but found it hard to even cock a grin. After all the things he's done…all the pain he had to go through to head home…it was hard to be happy. Especially when those that even kept that emotion alive died along with the good times. "So what brings you here? Can tell you're not from these parts."

"Yea. I'm looking for someone in this city. I met him before in the Netherlands, but he was gone before I knew it."

He bit his inner lip. Was this woman really searching for someone who she only met for God knows how long? He really hoped it wasn't another dumb love quest. He dragged the typewriter to him and began to insert paper and ink into the machine. Pushing the mechanism sideways, the paper was loaded and ready to be typed.

He immediately began typing away the date and time. "Might I ask your name and contact number Miss…"

"Joosten. Stefanie Joosten."

"Last name spelling?"

"J-o-o-s-t-e-n."

"Right."

A cocking back of the typewriter and he looked at her again, this time pulling out a notepad and a pencil, the latter at the ready in his right hand. "Right…now Stefanie, I need you to give a description of the man. What does he look like, how tall is he, things like that."

"Um…", she rolled her eyes up in thought as she racked her brain trying to find the details. She then put her attention back to him. "He's about…I would say five feet eleven inches. He has a squared chin…oh! He also has this weird blank eye. And…he has a blue eye too. That's all I can remember for now."

Right when she was talking about the blank eye, he suddenly stopped scribbling and scrunched his brow. Then the blue eye part. Then all the details came together. It was him. She was looking for a man who was standing right in front of her. But he wouldn't tell it outwardly, whether by words or body language.

"Hm. ", he wrote down the details about the eyes. "Do you remember how you met? What was his personality like? I think I might know him.", he asked, slightly expectant in his tone. He wanted to confirm his suspicions.

"I remember exactly how we met.", she then got this big grin on her face as she reminisced the moment. "It was a nice, moderate day in the Netherlands. News of the allies pushing back Nazi forces in Normandy. Pretty soon enough, they began retreating from our land and we were free from tyranny. Then these nice men from Britain and the United States came town by town, liberating us without firing a single shot."

This sounded real familiar to him now. His memory was starting to jog now. All those Dutch villages full of people hiding in their homes and publicly humiliating those who collaborated with the Nazis. It was a shame, but nothing he could've done about it. He probably would've felt the same way if he was in that situation.

"And one day, this really handsome man and some other troops came to my town, waving their flags and accepting the clamoring crowds' kind paybacks. I was so overjoyed at their sight, especially this one. He stood out to me for some reason. I couldn't pinpoint why.", she shifted from side to side as her coy smile lit up.

" I went up to him and hugged and kissed him on his cheek. Then soon enough…we started talking. He was so surprised I knew English very well, even if I was a native Dutch. Told him about my American father was the reason and how he came here, and everything else I could conjure up. And just as he was about to tell me his name and things about him…he had to go.", he face now had a hint of downtrodden feelings as his lip pushed towards her left side.

"All I heard from him over the loud sounds of the people as he left was "New York". So I came here to see him, to live in America. All the things he told me about his country were so interesting to me. All the dreams that could come true here…the happiness. And the history of the nation. It was weird at first…but I came to love everything about this country. Nearly a year goes by and now the Japanese were defeated, I still couldn't find him.", the smile disappeared from her face afterwards, and she inhaled deeply.

Exhaling, her speech slowly got more hitched. "Then I hear how a soldier who fought in Europe decided to continue in Japan. The reasons were unknown…but it was like he was empty. Devoid of everything positive. All that was left was bitterness and anger."

Now the man focused in more on her story. Just how the hell did she know about him going to the Pacific war? And how did she know about his anger? She must've asked around the Marines herself or something.

"And in his plight of revenge…he was torn to pieces by Japanese machine guns and artillery. He was hospitalized with terrible wounds…but he made it out surprisingly. He was "one tough bastard" as someone put it."

That sounds like something… _Miller_ would say about him. Was Miller giving her hints and sending her on a wild goose chase? Reminder: yell at Miller for not only revealing too much info about his condition, but for playing with a young, pretty girl's heart like that.

"He was in a coma for two years so far. But he had just woken up, and was recovering. Then, many months later…I lost him again. I didn't know where else to look. I was about to give up and cry but…I held on to some hope that he was here. Then I found a place to help thanks to the locals here. This place. I figured getting an investigator would help me find him."

Seeing a tear roll down her face, he grimly pulled out his handkerchief from his coat pocket and handed it to her. She dabbed her eyes and the single tear that rolled down her cheeks. Some shaky breaths later and she was calmed again under closed eyes.

She then reopened them, staring deep into his eye as she readjusted her seating position and put her hands on her lap. "Isn't it weird? I hardly know a man for a day, yet I love him like I knew him for months. So much so I spend years trying to find him."

Then came nothing but the sound of dead silence, rain, and cars rumbling by as they drove off. The man inhaled sharply and shakily. He could almost feel a tear coming. This woman really was after him. She really did love him that much.

But just like before, he easily suppressed the emotion. From his experience in the battlefield, it was easy to do this. Or well…it was easy with his comrades around. He lost them all in a blink of an eye. After that, the only thing he could feel was anger and hatred. Something he found himself having difficulty to suppress. But he learned. Oh, did he learn.

Yet this woman went after him, even if his demonic attitude out in the Pacific was revealed to her. It really made him think.

He was always so distant, so stoic. He pondered how she could like talking with him, let alone wanna go on a fetch-quest for him. Never had he known this kind of love since his now deceased mother. He crumpled the notepad paper and tossed it in the tiny trash bin nearby as his eye stared needles into his desk.

"Miss."

"Yes?", her head tilted slight with her eyes full of concern.

He slowly turned his gaze up to her. "I am that man you wanted to find."

"I knew it.", she smiled and exhaled noisily before hopping off the seat and trotting over to tightly embrace him. "I finally found you. After all this time…", she whispered into his ear as she held him close.

He stiffened up pretty quickly, being that he hasn't felt the touch of a woman other than his mother for so long. He simply stared at the back of her head for a bit before he slowly moved his arms around her. He couldn't find the words within him to comment on the situation after being so used to having the same emotional integrity as a brick.

The only words he could muster was, "Yea. I'm here."

She parted from it and stared into his eyes, her smile immediately reverting back as she tilted her head at him. There was this period of rather awkward between the two. "It's not polite to stare, miss Joosten."

She then quickly shook her head, breaking herself from the trance. Her eyes were glued to the floor as a light blush flooded her cheeks, making them slightly warm. "S-sorry. It's just…you look so different from before. And your eyes…they're hazy. And it's not cause one of them is blind."

The man blinked at her words. He let out a sigh before he uttered another word. "Yea…war does that to you. Especially when…you're the last one alive out of the group.", his eyes closed slowly and let out a shaky breath.

Once more, a hand covered the young Dutch woman's mouth. Was he truly the last survivor of his platoon? What a terrible fate. And damaged no less, both physically and mentally.

"I'm sorry.", she almost felt herself tear up.

"It's fine. Nothing you could've done anyways. I'm just glad I was able to blast the heads off those totalitarian fucks.", he was about to reach for his cigar when he felt a hand grab his. He turned to her, noticing her dead-on stare as she tried to hold back emotions.

"I know I couldn't do anything back then. That's why I came. Not just to love, but to fix…now and later."

A simple smirk erupted from the detective as he pulled her into another tight hug. It caught her by surprise, seeing as this was one of the few emotions he ever showed. He kissed her cheek lightly before rotating back around whilst rubbing her back softly. "You're one hell of a woman, Stefanie."


	2. 2: High School AU

Venom moved up in line as he slid the tray over the railing, perusing the contents available for today. So many things caught his eye. Spaghetti, burgers, tacos, sloppy joe, etc. Carefully he thought about each and every item.

 _Sloppy joe would be really messy. And the last thing I need is to get shit all over my new jacket._ he looked over his varsity jacket, complete with the school's emblem, the sports team's logo, and the combination of green, black, and yellow colors. Still, in all the years he's been in this place never would he have imagined getting a nice varsity jacket. Life was great right now.

 _The tacos here break more easily than fine china in an earthquake…and it might get on my jacket. The burgers would be great, but they put way too much ketchup in those packets. Crap spreads out of the bun and takes the taste away. Actually, y'know what? I know what to have._

"What'll have?", the lady croaked as she adjusted her glasses to see the young man better.

"Spaghetti and meatballs with a salad and an apple please.", he replied.

"Right.", she used a utensil to grab the dish and plop it into a bowl, handing it to the young man as she grabbed the rest and handed it off to him. The salad being in a square plastic container and the apple not being stored anywhere. Placing the things on his tray, he pulled some money out of his pocket and handed it to the lunch lady.

"Keep the change.", he reminded her as he turned around and spotted his table. As he came closer, the group noticed him and one of them patted the seat next to him. "Right here, James", a blond man with sunglasses and long, combed back hair called to him.

Sitting on the bench-like seating compartment of the table, Venom placed the tray down and shuffled his back off before whipping it around and unzipping it, reaching in for something. "Ooo! Let's play,  
"What's in James' Backpack Today?"! My guess is…Oreo's!", one of them cracked a joke while having the biggest grin on his face. He had short brown hair made into a faux and a slight beard growing.

"Wrong, Pequod.", he pulled out a green soda bottle. "It's Sprite!"

"Aw man!"

"Why do you keep guessing? You know you'll never win.", Ocelot spoke up, his hair having a buzzcut after losing a bet. Such a shame his mullet had to go. It explained his sour attitude.

"Hey, he promised that if I guessed right I could have it! I ain't giving up on that offer!", Pequod retorted to the cat man. "It's a chance to get free food."

"A nearly impossible chance.", Kaz snorted.

"Shut your face Miller! Watch, one of these days, I'll get it right!", Pequod slammed his hands on the table and pointed at him.

"The day when Pequod guesses right is the day when pigs will fly, and I will stop wearing these glasses. Hint: it means never.", Miller advised to the man, tapping the rim of his sunglasses and laughing afterwards with the whole table.

"Hey now…c'mon you gotta give this guy credit. The last thing he'd expect Boss to pull out is some trashy lemon-lime soda.", Jack spoke up, insulting his twin brother with a smug smile on his face.

Venom just about spit out the very drink at his words. Coughing, he recovered and spoke in a strangled voice, "Don't talk shit about Sprite! It's the holy chalice of sodas!"

The group just laughed, unaware of the presence that passed them. They continued on with their conversation. "So yea, soon enough once we're out of here, our little brothers David and Eli will be freshies!", Jack sighed. "They just grow up so fast.", he teased in a high voice, chuckling.

"Wonder if they'll survive.", Pequod speculated as he took a sip from the milk pint.

"David will be fine. If anyone tries to mess with him, he can more than handle them. He was even able to beat both of us in CQC. Eli on the other hand…", Venom bit his lip and stared back before taking a bite of the apple. "He's a cocky lil shit. All bark with no bite."

"Oh come on James, he's not that weak.", Jack complained at his twin's taunting of Eli. "Eli can fight well too."

"I know. But he's going to be too busy whining and talking to even throw a punch."

A slight whoop went among the group. "Dayumm man. No survivors, not even for your family.", Pequod could feel himself about to erupt in laughter.

Once more the presence passed behind Pequod, Jack, and Ocelot, who had their backs to the cafeteria line. Venom took notice of the person, immediately catching his attention. It was a girl…a really good looking one too at that.

She wore a see-through varsity-type jacket that was black with a white crop top t-shirt with some band logo on it and jeans that were up to her upper waist. The girl had brown hair that was tied into a ponytail in the back of her head and gray eyes.

The rest of the group's conversation just seemed to fade out as he focused on this girl. He had never seen her before. Not around this town, this school, nowhere. He didn't even notice her until now. It seemed like she just popped into existence. Hell, he never saw her during the summer semester. So where did she come from?

He watched as the girl was seated at a far table all by herself, eating the salad before her alone. He soon felt something near his face, a snapping noise, and soon enough, a pat on his cheek that was about to become a slap.

"Hello Houston, earth to James! Do you read me? This is Pequod!", he called out to the spaced out man. He sighed, turning his hand so the back of it was in the direction of his face, he winded up and almost connected with his face.

Quickly, Venom snatched the hand inches before it reached his face. Pequod freaked out and slipped his hand through his, grabbing ahold of it like he just tried to cut it off. Venom slowly rotated his head around to face the group, who were all visibly curious.

"Bro, what the hell is up with you? It was like your mind just walked out of your head and down the hall.", Pequod noted, shaking his hand from the death grip he just received.

"Sorry.", Venom replied, unchanged from the blank stare from before.

"Just what were you looking at anyways?", Jack raised a brow and turned towards the direction, noticing the girl. "Oh."

Ocelot and the others did the same and an unanimous and prolonged "Oh" rang out between them. Pequod grinned like the cat that got the canary.

"James has a crush.", the aspiring pilot teased in a singy-songy voice.

"No I don't! I don't even know this chick!", he scoffed before taking a sip of his Sprite.

"Admit it. You like her. You think she's hot.", Pequod just wouldn't stop.

"So what if I do? You stared at her for a bit too.", Venom refocused the subject onto Pequod.

"That's cause I think she's hot. Even if none of us know her. Off topic but who is she anyways?", Pequod turned to Jack expecting he had the answer. Luckily enough, he did. Er…he did…somewhat.

"She's the new girl here at school.", he simply stated out right without saying anything else. Pequod made an unamused face and rolled his eyes.

"Well no shit, Sherlock. None of us saw her before until now.", Pequod scrunched his brows in annoyance. "I wanna know the details."

"Adam? You know anything? You're the guy who's got the whole schpiel on everyone here.", Jack turned his attention to Ocelot, who was constantly adjusting his lips in a thinking manner. Ocelot then pulled out a stick of gum, taking it out of the wrapper and tossing it into his mouth to chew it.

"Yea. I do.", he nodded in between his chews. The whole group then shifted to huddle around the man, waiting for his wisdom to be heard.

"Do tell, good sir.", Pequod did a mock British accent as he turned to Adam.

"Like Jack said. New girl. But I've heard some things around the block that aren't exactly nice about her. It's a case of the new girl being fresh meat to pick apart.", he bit his inner lip at the thought. Pequod leaned in closer, his curiosity being displayed in full at his words as his brows were partly raised and partly lowered, his mouth agape slightly and his head turned with his ear in Ocelot's direction. The rest seemed to lean in closer, knowing Ocelot would get a little quieter.

"So what's the dirt on her then?", Miller inquired at a low volume.

Ocelot's eyes shifted around to check if anyone was listening in. He then returned to the group and was even softer in volume. "Apparently, word from the grape vine is that she's really antisocial."

A tilting of the heads commenced. "Like… _really_ antisocial."

"How?", Venom asked.

Ocelot held up a finger. "Hush. I'll get to it. Save the questions for later."

He then continued. "Apparently, she rarely talks to anyone or any _thing_ , nor does she even acknowledge you if you're near. She ends up writing and doodling a lot in her notebook. Some people tried to open up to her but she doesn't even respond, and just walks away if they keep talking. Plus, rumor has it that she pushed or even _hit_ some guys that tried to talk to her."

Another shifty glance around the room. "What's more is that she always works solo in class, even if it's a group project. Normally you think behavior like this would require some sort of…help, right? Well, wrong. She doesn't need any assistance at all. And why is that? She's really damn smart. Even if it seemed like she wasn't paying attention the whole time, when she gets asked a question she gets it right. Like, 100% right."

Pequod's mouth dropped to the floor, especially after the next statement. "What's more is I can confirm all of this, except for the hitting and pushing thing cause I haven't seen it. She's in my calculus and anatomy class, and I've witnessed most of those behaviors. That's how I know. And that's what I got on her so far."

Everyone's eyes widened, with the exception of Venom who raised a brow, quickly glancing over in her direction. Pequod simply leaned back in his chair in complete awe. "The hell…she barely pays attention and gets shit right but yet when I do it, I end up looking like a fool and have to be the class clown to avoid getting shitcanned.", he whispered.

"Great. She sounds like a _wonderful_ person.", Miller noted and scoffed, being completely sarcastic. "She sure likes to play hard to get. Even if you just wanna be friends, it's a challenge."

While the rest were discussing the recent information being passed on, there was one who wasn't. There was one who was in complete concentration onto the table, like some weird meditative state. The only one with complete determination in his eyes was none other than James, or as his nickname would have it, Venom. Everyone looked in anticipation in worry after finally paying attention to his looming figure.

"I'm gonna sit with her."

The friends were floored at his words, with whispered mixed reactions.

"Really?! Dude, what if she tries to hit you? You're gonna respond badly with those reflexes of yours and then everyone will see you as the douchebag who beat up a girl!", Jack mumbled to him under gritted teeth.

"She won't. Just watch me. I'll sit with her every day from now on. We'll be friends soon. You'll see. Starting now, I'll make progress." Venom had no intention of giving up.

"Well good luck dude.", Pequod held out his fist to bump, which Venom responded to. "Hope it ends up well. Try and see if she'll wanna join our group soon, kay?"

Miller whipped towards Pequod. "Are you insane? We're all guys! Well known, _popular_ guys! She's gonna murder us you idiot!", he hissed.

"I don't know…maybe James will accomplish it. If he was able to get David out of his shell, I imagine this girl is the same rodeo.", Ocelot watched as Venom grabbed his things and started moving towards her table.

Venom took a seat directly across from her, placing his tray and backpack down and unscrewing the cap on his Sprite, taking a large gulp before letting out a sigh. He felt the blank stare of her eyes on him. James returned the stare, making eye contact with her before making a friendly smile.

"Is it ok if I sit here?"

No response. Like…at all. Seems Ocelot was right on this. She was pretty antisocial. All he got was a squint before she returned to her notebook and continued writing. Not even a simple "yes" or "no".

 _I'll take that as a "no". Well, too bad missy._ , he returned to his lunch as he began to finish up the spaghetti and salad, the apple remains sitting on the corner of the tray. Biting into a spindle of spaghetti with a meatball at the end, his gaze was initially placed at his food before it shifted to the girl, then to her notebook.

The notebook kept his attention, that's for sure. He noticed on one of the pages there was a sketch of very detailed butterfly resting on top of what looked like a woman's hand. And the anatomy was pretty accurate. The current sketch she was working on was a lot different. Rather than a natural scene like the completed one, it was way more mechanical. It actually looked like those giant robots he saw on television sometimes.

As he kept shoveling food in his mouth after intervals of chewing, swallowing, and drinking, James stared intently at the drawing. He then noticed out of the upper corner of his eye that the girl was alerted and immediately gathered her arms around it to form a barricade, blocking his view. His stoic expression kept strong as his vision was refocused on her.

Now that he had a better look at her face, it was clear that his initial thoughts of her being pretty were confirmed. It seemed like she didn't really wear a lot of makeup besides some eye-liner and basic natural blends to hide any imperfections like acne. In fact, she was kinda beautiful. He hadn't seem someone of this league in terms of appearances since he met Eva.

Meanwhile, from across him, his group of friends watched intently at the silent exchange between the two parties. With her resistance to his glares, and his constant staring contest with her and her things, it was like some battle of the wits between Magneto and Professor X or something.

Finishing his bite of the salad, James finally spoke up again. "Y'know, I'm not that good at drawing."

He didn't get a response from her, except for maybe a grunt or exhale. "Not that creative either. I've written ideas before but they were meh. Not really the type of guy for that kinda stuff."

Again, silence, only she seemed to be a little more agitated at the fact that he just kept talking to her, so her focus on the drawing was increased tenfold in order to zone him out. Another period of quiet between the two, nothing being heard but the clamors of the other students.

Venom inhaled deeply. "The only place I truly shine is sports. That's where I get creative. I may not be able to make cool stories or pictures, but I kick ass at making a show for the audience while getting our school some wins. My coach actually consults me a lot for tactics. He says they're insane, but yet genius at the same time."

Her scribbling only seemed to get more intense the more his words reached her. James simply sat there processing her behavior. No wonder Ocelot emphasized "really" before. It straight up seemed like she didn't want anything to do with anyone, much less have a one-sided conversation. Luckily James doesn't have the flared temper of Miller and had some patience to his character.

He decided to share more about himself. "Plus, I play a mean game of shooting. No clay birdies survive on my watch.", he smiled a bit and joked around. "What makes it cooler, I'm legally half blind. But it doesn't stop me.", he pointed to his left eye.

Eventually she stopped scribbling and slammed her pencil on the table, including the notebook as she shut it. Her head whipped up to him and gave him the iciest, deadliest stare he had ever seen from anyone, man or woman. He simply responded with the deep, foreboding stare of his ice blue eye, and the blank whitish-light blue of his blind eye.

Those two slamming actions rang out loudly within the cafeteria too, causing the crowds to shut up and look towards the source. Small murmurs rang out as they began to talk about the new girl.

The group from afar was glued to the scene before them, with faces in utter shock that he didn't falter under her glare. Then again, nothing really scared the two twins, hence the expectant look on Jack's face. If you analyzed Jack's face, it would tell that he knows the outcome of this struggle of psych.

The girl gulped as she gritted her teeth together underneath her tucked lips. _What the hell?! Everyone else just goes away at this point._ , she thought to herself. It scares everyone else, but why not him?

What pissed her off even more was that stupid small smile on his face that morphed. At this point she gave up, her eyes returning to their soft state and going to the table. And just like Jack's look on his face predicted, James was able to do the one thing no one else but the teachers managed to accomplish.

She actually spoke to another student.

"You win. You got me to talk.", her quiet, meek Dutch accented voice toiled and hissed. "What the hell do you want?"

She was half expecting some snotty, pervy response like she got once from one of the jocks, but what he did next shocked her.

"I just thought you needed a friend. Wasn't fair for you to sit all by yourself."

The girl was taken aback by his words, but only slightly, and refusing to show outer confirmation of this feeling. She tried to remain strong. "That's what everyone says. Then they want me like I'm some kind of blow-up doll later. What makes you any different?"

Venom racked his brain for a response before he stared on with confidence. "If I had wanted a "blow-up doll", I would've got one already with all the rep I gained. I've been at this school for a whole four damn years straight and not once did I ever find myself interacting with girls. Even if they tried to get me first, I pushed them away. I could honestly care less about relationships right now.", he decided to put it bluntly as his best choice. If she didn't believe him, he knew his twin brother got his back since they literally know each other like the back of their hands.

Now the surprised emotion came forth from this girl. She was mesmerized by just how plain he told it. No beating around the bush or anything, he came out straightforward, even if some would interrupt it as harsh. "I…"

She tried to come up with a rebuttal but failed to do so. Across the room, Jack smirked bigger than he'd ever have. His brother sure knew how to win people over. Pequod sputtered at the display, muttering something about the knight taming a wild dragon. Ocelot silently clapped for Boss in a sarcastic-like manner whilst Kaz just scrunched his nose in jealousy.

The girl found her fists tightening and her eyes shaking around before she relaxed and leaned forward on the table in defeat. She thought she would be able to get through this senior semester without speaking to a soul, but alas it failed.

"You win again…ass.", she mumbled. Venom simply smiled.

"I'm James.", he held out his non-prosthetic hand. "What's your name?"

"Nicknames fine?", she asked in a droning voice.

Venom nodded. "Call me Quiet.", she blabbed, grabbing his hand and shaking it weakly.

"How fitting. Nice to meet you, Quiet."

The bell soon rang, making the entire room groan. Quiet shuffled her notebook and paper into her backpack and was about to power walk away from this weirdo when she felt something grab her arm. "What?", she whined, turning around to see him.

"Any times you prefer to hang out?", he questioned her.

"Lunch. That's it. Bye.", she retorted as she threw off his hand and sped off to her next class. Once at a considerable distance, Pequod rushed the man and put him in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

"Look who's the big man of the hour! You got the new chick to talk!", he teased in a growly voice, hooting as the rest gathered around and socked him in the arms, shaking him wildly after being released from Pequod's grip.

"I'll admit it Boss. You got talent for bringing people to you. Maybe she'll join us sooner or later.", Kaz grinned.

"Oh finally! Now it won't be a sausage fest anymore!", Pequod laughed as the whole group rang out in laughter, saying their goodbyes as they parted to their last classes of the day. As he walked to his class, Venom found content in himself. What a day this was!


End file.
